Let's Complain About SOPHAS!

[pomo]

UGH! Is anyone else hating SOPHAS hard right now? I had a priority/early deadline of Dec 1., but because they are so tragically slow to process transcripts, I am STILL waiting for them to mail the application. I will miss the early batch deadline because a robot website made me late! Ridiculous!

[DeeLovely79]

If submitted your SOPHAS application by your school's e-submit deadline you will be fine. The e-submit deadline factors in processing time.

If the Dec 1 deadline was a "received by" deadline then the processing time is something that you should have planned for. I'm not a fan of SOPHAS but the website clearly states that it can take up to 4 weeks to process and "mail" your application. I put mail in quotes because SOPHAS has some type of electronic submission system so if your application is sent today your school will receive it today or tomorrow.

Edited December 5, 2011 by DeeLovely79

[pomo]

If submitted your SOPHAS application by your school's e-submit deadline you will be fine. The e-submit deadline factors in processing time.

If the Dec 1 deadline was a "received by" deadline then the processing time is something that you should have planned for. I'm not a fan of SOPHAS but the website clearly states that it can take up to 4 weeks to process and "mail" your application. I put mail in quotes because SOPHAS has some type of electronic submission system so if your application is sent today your school will receive it today or tomorrow.

I should have planned for the delay -- I had no clue how the system worked, since this is my only SOPHAS application (other programs use embark and applyyourself) and I guess I screwed myself? Though I e-submitted AGES ago, and SOPHAS only told me last week that they needed another copy of one of my transcripts, which I then had to frantically overnight. But now they have everything and it's just...sitting there. I find it quite frustrating!

[DeeLovely79]

So they've already started reviewing your file? I don't think they put you at the bottom of the queue because they didn't have your transcripts. From the SOPHAS website it looks like nothing is happening and then poof your courses will be verified and applications mailed out that week.

I take it that you applied to Columbia through SOPHAS, some of the folks at the Student Doctor Forums and have contacted the admissions office and found out that the submission deadline is actually after Dec 1st. There was some mistake so SOPHAS has their deadline listed as Dec 1st. You should be fine.

Edited December 5, 2011 by DeeLovely79

[sunshine6]

Can I complain about programs that have you do half through SOPHAS and half by another system? One application, two sets of everything! Drat and phooey.

[DeeLovely79]

Yes complain about those. There are several schools that require two sets of applications and fees and I decided not to apply to those. The application process is expensive and complicated enough, having to two submit two applications for a single program is overkill.

[bikefarm]

If submitted your SOPHAS application by your school's e-submit deadline you will be fine. The e-submit deadline factors in processing time.

If the Dec 1 deadline was a "received by" deadline then the processing time is something that you should have planned for. I'm not a fan of SOPHAS but the website clearly states that it can take up to 4 weeks to process and "mail" your application. I put mail in quotes because SOPHAS has some type of electronic submission system so if your application is sent today your school will receive it today or tomorrow.

Unfortunately this isn't always true. For most schools it is, but for a few schools they take the processing time into account. Take this from someone who who had to learn the hard way. Once, my application was not reviewed by a particular school because by the time they got my application from SOPHAS they had already reviewed applications and were no longer considering any other applicants. It was a nightmare and I had e-submitted my SOPHAS application before the school's deadline.

This time around, I e-submitted my SOPHAS application a month and half earlier than my earliest designated school deadline because I don't want to take any chances. But funny enough, SOPHAS STILL hasn't mailed out my application (even with my recommendation letters submitted early too.)

[sunshine6]

Ok, I have something to complain about. Just got an email saying I only needed to send one GRE score to ONE Sophas school, and it would be forwarded to Sophas,

NOW you tell me, 5 scores later.

Sheesh.

[DeeLovely79]

Same here, after I ETS takes all my money I find out I didn't need those additional score reports. Thanks SOPHAS!!

[pomo]

The whole system just seems really disjointed -- and they should be clearer about processing time. Like, big giant red bold letters every time you log in. If I had known that my application would just sit in limbo until they processed it, I would have e-submitted way way way earlier. I also would have been able to tell my recommenders to submit early as well.

[bikefarm]

Super annoying about the GRE scores!

[paradoll]

Wait, I don't need to send it to the schools individually? I thought that was only for other tests?

Where does it say this?

I've been putting behind putting those activity logs with hours per week entries..

[pomo]

FYI, to get an idea of processing time, SOPHAS just reported my application as mailed on 12/28 and it has been complete since 12/1. Technically I e-submitted on 11/22, but they needed me to resubmit a transcript.

[sunshine6]

Wait, I don't need to send it to the schools individually? I thought that was only for other tests?

Where does it say this?

Paradoll,

I received an automated email from Sophas explaining only one GRE score needed to be sent to a participating school, and the school would transmit the score to SOPHAS. Apparently this email was due to some feedback that this policy was unclear (because it really is).

[epi19]

I applied to a PhD program via SOPHAS and on the SOPHAS website it said for this particular program my application had to be in to the school by 1/15 so the application should be e-submitted 5-10 business days prior to 1/15. Then on the school's website it said deadline of 1/1- with no mention of SOPHAS. I e-submitted to SOPHAS on 1/1 thinking that 1/1 was the e-submit deadline and 1/15 was the mailing deadline, but now I'm so confused because I'm reading that it takes SOPHAS a month to process things. I called them and they were of no help tell me that my application should be "mailed" in 4-6 weeks, yet, they acknowledged I followed the directions correctly by e-submitting 5-10 business days before 1/15. and that I shouldn't be worried. They were also kind of mean.

[afalz4]

FYI, to get an idea of processing time, SOPHAS just reported my application as mailed on 12/28 and it has been complete since 12/1. Technically I e-submitted on 11/22, but they needed me to resubmit a transcript.

Did the school still consider your application? (Even though it was mailed nearly a month after the "deadline") I'm in a similar situation, and the SOPHAS process has been very frustrating!

[avocado9]

I can definitely relate to the SOPHAS frustration ... submitted my application on 12/5/11, and it STILL hasn't been mailed to my designated schools. There was a lot of back and forth with them wanting transcripts from community college for classes I audited like 10 years ago, it's ridiculous.

[ebucha]

I had the opposite problem with GRE scores that most of you had! SOPHAS received my scores but then the schools I applied to decided that they didn't get them so they requested them again!

[jordanami]

SOPHAS took more than 4 weeks to update my transcripts/GPA after they received them, and even then it only happened after an email. It seems like the schools I had applied to are accepting my application anyway, so I am lucky there, even though in the FAQs those schools are listed as only accepting apps for which all documentation has been verified by the deadline. But yes... I actually applied through SOPHAS last year and they were much quicker about things than they were this year. I'm not sure what happened there.

[jordanami]

Did the school still consider your application? (Even though it was mailed nearly a month after the "deadline") I'm in a similar situation, and the SOPHAS process has been very frustrating!

So far several have been lenient with me in that regard. I also had one for which a reference did not respond until 2 days after the deadline and they are still considering me, even though their listed policy is that all info must be received and verified before the deadline, so I think it's probably okay.

[sapphirestorm]

What I really hated the most (besides having to submit and pay for applications TO SOPHAS and TO the schools) was that they recalculated my GPA; I worked so hard in college for a 3.82 and they turned it into a 3.5. Perhaps not a big difference, but I was very unhappy about that. I had to ask them multiple questions, call them email them because their information was not clear and the site was difficult to use. Inputting all my classes etc was so tedious it took me hours and that was mostly because of the format they used to do it. I'm glad it's over!

[BoilerEpi]

I know alot of these posts are kind of old.  But the only application I submitted through SOPHAS was a pain in the ass regarding my reference letters.  One of my references told me he couldn't locate the notification from them, it was probably just buried in his inbox.  It was no big deal to me I figured I would just enter my application and click an option to re-send it (the way all my other applications do), but there wasn't an option for that so I removed him and added him again (the only logical thing I could think of).  A week later he had only gotten the notification saying he had been removed, I call SOPHAS and lo and behold the only way you can re-send the notification is by calling their customer support line (doesn't say it anywhere on their instructions/application).  And of course they were snotty about it.

[Shostakovich]

One problem I had with SOPHAS was their system used a weird way to compute my upper division GPA. They just considered anything after my 2nd year "upper division" and anything before that "lower division" even when I specified the course type for each course. I emailed them to say they got it wrong, their reply was something like "We didn't know you were using a different method to compute your GPA, we'll take a look." They did fix it in the end, but yeah just saying...

[VBD]

Yeah, they calculate the lower division and upper division courses oddly. I took some graduate level courses as a sophomore, but they counted that as lower division. I was just so fed up with them. I didn't realize we could call them and argue the details of our GPA though. My GPA's ended up being lower by .1 or .2 Good on you for arguing with them.

[Shostakovich]

Yeah, they calculate the lower division and upper division courses oddly. I took some graduate level courses as a sophomore, but they counted that as lower division. I was just so fed up with them. I didn't realize we could call them and argue the details of our GPA though. My GPA's ended up being lower by .1 or .2 Good on you for arguing with them.

 

Haha yeah it was hurting me by something like .15 if I remember correctly. I'm not sure if the numbers themselves are really important though, many program websites mentioned that grades in relevant courses were much more important than the actual GPA itself.